Caesar™ 3
The “Don’t Escape Trilogy” is a collection of three short first-person point-and-click adventures with static screens (no camera movement, no scrolling). The games share a creepy atmosphere and a few gameplay mechanics, but are otherwise unrelated. In the first game, you play a werewolf trying to lock himself away before a full-moon night, so that he won’t kill anyone when he turns. In the second game, you’re trying to barricade a house and protect yourself from a zombie horde. In the third game, you’re the only surviving crew member on a spaceship and need to stop “something” from getting out.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Historical Games.
Even though the entire trilogy is available for free on Armor Games, I chose to purchase this game series on Steam because that’s how amazing ScriptWelder really is. The Deep Sleep and Don’t Escape series were some of the first PC games I ever played, and I have ScriptWelder to thank for making my early experiences so magical. I have followed each and every game you have published on AG, hunted down every achievement, set of choices, and walkthrough I could find… simply, because every single second I spent in any of your games was one of either awe, wonder, fear, or curiosity.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Caesar™ IV
Many years ago, when I was a member of GameTap (before Steam), I became addicted to CivCity Rome. Fast forward a decade and some change later, I found Caesar IV on Steam and thought I’d give it a whirl. Having loved CivCity Rome, I figured Caesar IV would be equally as satisfying.
I was right, and I was wrong. Right because I loved Caesar IV from the moment I started playing. Wrong because it is far superior to CivCity Rome in a plethora of ways. Not knocking CivCity Rome, but Caesar IV has so many additional features and perks.
– Real player with 441.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Historical Games.
As someone who has spent more than 1000h+ in Civ V and VI, I’d say this is a great city-builder game. Easy to learn, hard to master style. As I write this I’m trying to complete the last campaign mission @ prosperity path, already completed the game in the military mode at hard difficulty.
I can assure you people who complain about scenarios being too small have only played the tutorial missions, which are small indeed, but it’s just the tutorial who tries to teach you how to optimice the space you are given to build. All other scenarios give you far too plenty of space.
– Real player with 148.1 hrs in game
CivCity: Rome
I love this game. I have played it plenty. I am desperate to see it get brought into the 21st century and become an awesome roman city simulator idea…The core game is already infinitley playable and with a bit of depth honestly is a £30-£40 game for me.. Features/direction I would love to see any developers go….(off the top of my head as i get so many ideas when playing this game it does that…
1 Focus on the non army aspect and make it a city builder
2 Focus on the ecomony part of it. Larger number of different products and shops..i.e more detailed items of clothing, diverse food
– Real player with 146.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best City Builder Historical Games.
I once played 10+ hours of this as a kid, ca. 2006, racing against a laptop that had started flickering with the blue screen of death.
I was delighted to find this and my all-time favorite game, Sierra’s city-builder Pharaoh, on Steam as an adult.
So, as a grown-up, what’s my verdict on CivCity: Rome?
It’s a lost opportunity for a truly great game and what could have been the flagship for a CivCity series.
Now, it’s fine to have a red herring or two in a mission to keep players on their toes, but in CCR the mismatched and misplaced items are just sloppiness. For example– if there is NO OVERSEAS TRADE or even NO OCEAN in a scenario, you have access to a boat wright and trade dock in your build menu. Marble can only be used for trade, with no role in construction, but it appears in almost every map. If it’s not on your map, you’ll still have access to a marble quarry in the build menu.
– Real player with 97.2 hrs in game
Glory of Rome
Cute little city builder. So far (scenario 6 complete) it has been pretty casual, a little slow at times. There are some speed adjustments, but everything still seems to go by very slowly. The quests that come along definitely help with cashflow for building and add a small amount of difficulty if you aren’t ready for what they throw at you.
The graphics are pretty cartoonish. The mechanics are straight-forward if you play a lot of these sort of sim games. (Banished, RimWorld, etc)
I dislike the one view camera. You can’t rotate at all. The play areas - even in sandbox - are prohibitively small. Buildings autoface pre-built roads with no option to change the orientation. However, the pips seem to walk through the walls anyhow so I guess it doesn’t matter a whole lot which way the building is facing.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
A nice and straight forward sim with pleasant graphics and good gameplay.
The Developer is quite responsive towards suggestions and feedback and has already confirmed there will be big future content updates which I’m looking forward to.
If you like Sim City, here is a roman-era version you should definitely check out.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Grand Ages: Rome - Reign of Augustus
Re-live the reign of Augustus in the official expansion pack for the hit PC title Grand Ages: Rome. Reign of Augustus includes a brand new campaign comprised of 12 missions, new maps and a wealth of enhanced gameplay features.
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Campaign with 12 new Missions
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12 new maps
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6 new multiplayer maps
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4 new buildings: Senate, Tax Office, Odeum, Hospital
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20 new estates bonus
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Roads - connect your city to the major roman roads to gain additional resources, units travel faster on roads, certain buildings generate additional resources when placed next to a road
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Authority - certain buildings (both new and existing buildings from the first game) generate Authority that can be used for various effects that benefit the player or hinder his opponents - putting out or starting fires, summoning an allied squad, accelerated research, etc.
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New talents for each family (21 new talents total)
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Remove tool for roads, trees, platforms and decorations
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New decorations – statues and gardens
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God Mode - free build map with few disasters and unlimited resources
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New campaign intro video
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Additional multiplayer features: Pre-built towns & pre-built town walls etc.
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3 new patrons (Agrippa, Nero, Drusus)
Grand Ages: Rome
I started playing this game again recently, and discovered how fun the Campaigns are to play. Previously I had only used the Free Build mode.
The Good
Campaign System
The campaign is simple. It has a simple reward system which gives you money and talents at the end of each task, which you can then use to buy estates or upgrade your city building skills, giving you resource advantges before you move on to the next task. Quite a simple mechanic, but one which adds just enough interest to make the game long lasting fun, and which fits in well with the overall gamepaly.
– Real player with 206.2 hrs in game
Yeah i know hipsters loathe anything they find inferior being praised, but once again we should just do it anyway and enjoy their sweet succulent “not rage but really is rage they just don’t want to come out and admit because they wanna be the cool kids but not be a cool kid because it’s mainstream"should be enjoyed and feasted upon, and believe me that quote on quote CAN and SHOULD be longer but hipsters are to be mocked, not mentioned.
Now that we got that out of the way, lets continue. I find grand ages: rome highly underrated, to those who bought it and regret it, give it a chance, it’s a game you gotta break the mold with first to properly enjoy before passing judgement (and believe me, i understand not everyone has to like the same game, and it’s okay if you just simply dislike grand ages: rome, to each their own after all.)
– Real player with 101.4 hrs in game
Retaliation Path of Rome
Retaliation Path of Rome is a very complex game, with several unique features
MISSIONS
About 100 different missions, with either single or multiple objectives, like:
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reach a population target (a minimum number of patricians and/or plebs)
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reach a target happyness
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earn a certain amount of money
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complete the mission in a given time
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win a certain number of battles
5 difficulty levels, from very easy to very hard: with different world resources, starting money, initial reputation…
Every mission is created parametrically to offer an ever changing challenge, each time a mission is re-played.
STRUCTURES
The player has the possibility to build more than 50 structures to complete the missions. Some example structures:
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Slaves' quarters
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Plebs' houses
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Patrician villas
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Wheat field
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Olive grove
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Vineyard
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Farm
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Fishing house
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Market
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Stables
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Workshop
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Dirt road
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Paved street
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Archers' barracks
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Ballistaari' barracks
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Equites' barracks
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Legionary barracks
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Velites' barracks
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Defence tower
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Signaling tower
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Watch tower
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Wooden wall
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Wooden gate
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Stone wall
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Stone gate
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Forum
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Theatre
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Amphitheatre (arena)
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Gladiator ludus
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Stadium (chariot races)
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Gardens
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Groves
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Fountain
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Well
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Butcher
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Olive maker
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Wine maker
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Lumber mill
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Clay pit
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Iron mine
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Stone quarry
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Marble quarry
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Gold mine
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Potter workshop
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Blacksmith
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Academy
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Library
..
Each structure needs specific resources in order to be built.
And of course each structure has different function and features, and some structures have to be properly positioned in order to yield the desired result: for wine production it is necessary to create both vineyard (to get the grapes) and a winemaker (to get the wine).
CITY AI
In each city there will be some AI controlled competitors: other patricians whose goal is to increase their riches and extend their influence. They will be vying with the player, acquiring resources and building structures, trying to get to the best spots before the player.
The competitors appear in advanced levels, and each has a different strategy: some concentrate in the real estate market, others in trade or in resource production.
DESIRABILITY
When new structures get built, these can differ in desirability. Usually this depends on what is present (or built) around them. For example a patrician villa has higher desirability (and hence higher market value) if nearby there are gardens, fountains, other villas, theatres.. It instead loses value if nearby there are stables, farms, wheat fields… Residents will at first go to dwell or work in the structures with higher desirability, avoiding those of little value.
For production structures, for example a wheat field, the value depends on the amount of the produced resource is available in the nearby city and in the global market. If the market needs grains, the value of the field will rise. Conversely, the field would become less desirable and its value decrease.
DAMAGE
In time, structures deteriorate. Every week mainteance works are done to keep them operative and pleasant. If there are not enough money for the basic upkeep or if extraordinary work is needed, the player will need to acquire the necessary funds and repair it as soon as possible (or see its profitability vanish and possibly even arrive to the point when the whole structure eventually collapses).
CITY BUILDING
The city management part of the game depends chiefly on money, people’s satisfaction and resources available.
Dealing with these three amounts, the player needs to complete the missions.
Careful and efficient exploitation of the resources allows to save money and gain with the trade. A wheat field created in a fertile area will yield much more and hence cover its operation costs and bring profit.
It is best to plan the city growth in order to efficiently exploit the resources and reduce the expenses. It is important that cities be self-sufficient: for example a global event like a drought could push prices of imported goods to very high levels.
It is also fundamental to avoid discontent in the populace. If discontent is too high there could be revolts that would seriously compromise the possibility to successfully complete a given mission.
HAPPYNESS
To be happy, people needs to have their basic needs satisfied: food, dwelling, work, water, protection from enemies.
Increasing the people’s life conditions will also generate new needs. In particular the patricians will start to require luxury goods (good wine, gold, silk, refined pottery, statues…).
Entertainment is another fundamental need: populous cities will require stadiums and arenas (and famous people competing inside those structures..)
When happyness is low, the city structures become less productive and hence less profitable.
WORKERS
All structures need a certain amount of workers or worktime, even for the simple upkeep/maintenance.
All productive structures are tightly bound to the number of workers available in the city: with not enough available workers the production would decrease or even become null. Structures with the highest desirability will be the first ones to attract the workers, leaving the others without.
Different structures will require different amounts and different type of workers. For some jobs only slaves will be requested. Plebs are needed for crafts and trade.
Unemployment will cause collapse of happyness and increased risk of revolts.
PATRICIANS / PLEBS / SLAVES
Patricians are the wealthiest citizens, they have expensive needs and cannot accept to see their needs not satisfied. Their weight over city happyness is very relevant.
They also expect to be given high prestige jobs: army generals, high clerics, administrators, politicians, proprietors.
Plebs are mostly involved in crafts and trade. They are fundamental for the management of the city but they don’t have much political weight.
Their class gives the major turnout in tax income.
Slaves are the major work force. Satisfying their primary needs (food, lodging, water) is important as they deal with the production and resource gathering of the city. Correct management of the slaves is fundamental to make the city desirable to the other classes.
RESOURCES:
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Gold
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Wood
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Stone
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Marble
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Iron
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Clay
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Wheat
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Meat
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Fish
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Grape
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Olive
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Wine
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Oil
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Pottery
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Jewelry
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Leather
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Cloth
These are the resources that can be traded, produced or transformed.
TRADE
To evolve the city it is mandatory to correctly manage the trade of all goods: selling the city production to obtain the resources needed for the evolution and improvement of the city.
Prices of resources are managed at two distinct levels: local and global.
Locally: they depend on the city demand and the amount of that type of good that has been bought or sold (selling a lot of wheat will make its price decrease).
Globally: the entire nation’s demand is evaluated and several other factors also influence the price (e.g. events like plagues, droughts, wars..). For example the global price of wheat could be much higher than the local one because of scarcity due to droughts in several areas of the nation.
So if there is a global crisis, even if your city sells a lot of wheat, its price could still be increasing instead of decreasing. But when the trend changes (for example the drought ends) its price could suddenly crash.
AUTOMATIC TRADE
To simplify the game and avoid micromanagement, it is possible to automate trade setting some “limit orders”.
E.g. “buy if there is less than .. %”
The automatic system won’t consider the price, but the quantity set as requirement.
STRUCTURES' MARKET
In Path of Rome it is possible to buy or sell the structures (with the exclusion of those like walls, streets, barracks) according to its market value.
Once the building of a structure is complete, the player has the possibility of selling it, to the value defined by its desirability and the kind of resources it produces.
Selling a structure gives an immediate income, but could be disadvantageous in the long term:
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no money will be collected for rent of properties or sale of production
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resources produced by sold structures will not be managed by the player
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and hence those resources won’t be available to build other structures
Nevertheless a good sale would still benefit because of immediate cash flow…
DANGER AND ENTRENCH
Every structure you build makes your city more appealing to enemies who could invade or pillage it, according to the kind of structure: a patrician villa, a thriving market or a golden mine would increase the risk of enemy incursion much more than a new wheat field or a stone quarry.
To compensate, it is better to spend some money and time on defending the city, creating walls, towers and military units.
Defensive structure will also contribute to raise the desirability and hence the values of the other structures of the cities, whose occupants will feel safer.
All choices in the game are two pronged, bringing both advantages and problems.
For example, continuing on the topic of city defense: if there are few or no defensive structures, there will be many enemy incursions, but very light (small bands of brigands mostly).
Conversely, excellent defensive structures won’t guarantee that the city becomes untouchable, will deter and block small offensives but will attract the organized war sieges of big enemy armies: a city so well defended MUST be rich and full of bounty!
BATTLES
Retaliation Path of Rome is a hybrid RTS/TBS, a combination which makes the game very tactical. You’ll need to plan how to move the troops, how to arrange them and expecially what kind of army units to train. Different movement ability (velites, with barely no armour, are much faster than full armoured princeps) and different attack types and attack speeds make unit types (and how you’ll use them in battle) very different.
Each battle is managed by a parametric AI system with almost endless combinations and possible states and developments.
COHORTS
Units are arranged in groups, which are commanded by officers, controlling the movement and formation of the groups.
Each group can have a different formation: for example you’ll probably be depolying the archers in a long line (or in two/three lines), rather than massed as a square.
The commanding officer will also decide the state for the group: defensive, aggressive, berserk…
Continuously changing the state, formation, movement or attack orders of a group when the battle is already started may seed confusion on some members of the group, which may then fail to follow some of the orders and in the worst cases a total confusion could even provoke the disbandment of the group.
GENERALS
The army general will give commands to the officers and these will command the groups under their command.
The closer a general is to a certain group, the faster the issued orders will be received and carried out correctly. If the general is far away, the group for which the order is meant will react more slowly to the new commands.
If your general dies during the battle you can still command the army, but in a much slower and less coordinated way, with a high risk of confusion and messy coordination. Furthermore, the loss of the general will take a huge toll on the army’s morale, and could cause the whole army to flee the battlefield.
COHORTS AI vs SINGLES AI
Control AI will be managing separately groups and single soldiers.
Each group is treated as a single autonomous entity and orders given to the group will take priority over orders and states of the single soldiers. Nevertheless if the group disbands, its officer dies or the army general dies, then single soldiers will not be bound by group cohesion and will follow a behaviour dictated by their last orders, mediated by their own particular demeanor, state and parameters (called " stats”).
SOLDIERS
Each soldier has more than 20 “stats”, parameters defining the single unit, similarly to many RPGs (like strength, intelligence, agility, accuracy, movement speed, orientation ability, luck, tactical acumen, battle experience… ).
Every cohort will include units with very different characteristics, which will affect their performance on the battlefield.
For example: a very strong archer will shoot very fast and very far, possibly inflicting more damage when hitting… but the same archer could have a very bad aim and rarely hit the intended target.
Unit types:
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General
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Legionary (heavy infantry)
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Velities (light infantry)
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Ballistarii (siege and field artillery operators)
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Sagittarii (archers)
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Equites (cavalry)
TRAINING
All cohorts can undergo specific and additional training (up to 5 levels) to become more efficient and to improve the stats of the individual members of the cohort.
Training will improve things like speed of execution of orders, combat ability, manouvering, aim… but no amnount of training, obviously, will affect such things as individual soldiers' intelligence or natural agility.
Imperium BCE
Be a leader of one of the greatest civilizations in the world. Bring glory to Rome, in our upcoming title, Imperium BCE.
Would you expand Rome’s borders through war? Or would you use spies to sabotage other kingdoms, divide tribes? In Imperium BCE, you can use many different strategies, to bring about the inevitable Roman dominion.
Surrounded by so many different kingdoms, cultures and leaders, you will need to maintain balance and spread your influence slowly, so as not to alarm your neighbors. Your spies will have to work in secret, act on your orders, to strengthen your culture and religion, making your enemies weaker. Your diplomats might work on improving relations with other kingdoms or might provide you with valid justification for war.
Events
Being in control of a sprawling empire comes at a cost. Unexpected things happen. Events take place which are outside of the control of even the most powerful people. In Imperium BCE, there are events that can hold you back or propel you forward.
An unforeseen rain might ruin the crops. This can lead to food shortages, citizen dissatisfaction, anger with the Gods for letting it happen, or maybe anger with you, for not doing enough for your people. Will you find a way to appease them?
Will you follow the advice of your priests, and have rituals conducted, to celebrate your Gods, at a great cost of the coin, in order to make your citizens happy?
Your choices could have dire consequences. Thread carefully.
Spies
Weaken your enemies. Soften the battlefield. Some of your greatest assets in Imperium BCE will be your spies.
Well trained to operate in secret, your spies will sabotage, assassinate, and do whatever it takes to make Roman take-over easier. Give your spies time and resources, and they will steal essential supplies, spread your culture far and wide, and even disperse diseases, which can devastate entire populations.
Just hope that they never get caught…
War
Train some of the mighties warriors that ever walked the Earth.
Bring your enemies to their knees with advanced battle strategies, reward your soldiers with land, besiege cities, and expand your territory. Attack when your enemies are vulnerable, be able to defend your citizens against anyone who dares to make a move against you. Fight sea battles and maintain control of the sea.
When the dust settles, Rome should have prevailed!
Diplomacy
Win hearts and minds, improve relations, give gifts. Hide your true intentions.
Your diplomats will repair the damage in reputation, caused by your conquests. A good diplomat will make an agitated king feel at ease as if the Roman invasion is not just around the corner. When the time is right, they will provoke and insult, leading kings and their people, into your well-prepared trap.
Wars can be prevented or set in motion by a crafty diplomat. Use them well.
Building
Provide your architects with the resources needed to build the unimaginable!
Develop your cities, turn villages into towns, have your citizens witness Rome growing beyond their wildest imagining. Build structures that will stand the test of time. Different buildings will provide you with different benefits but will take time to construct. Plan your expansion carefully.
Your enemies will be envious of your achievements!
Discoveries
Encourage bright minds to work on inventions, for the benefit of all.
With more than 50 technological discoveries available to research, or even steal from other kingdoms, gain the upper hand and crush your enemies. As some discoveries can take years to be put into use, you will have to choose carefully which discovery to pour limited resources into.
Have patience. Good things take time.
Laws
Legislation was of great importance to the Roman public.
Choose between different governing political systems, and enact laws that will help shape your society. Organize your people, bring about needed changes, make improvements for your citizens, and reap the benefits of well-structured communities with clear rules and responsibilities.
Watch Rome prosper before your eyes!
Imperium Romanum Gold Edition
English :
This is a great game. The “Grand ages of Rome” is the sequel of it and has somewhat better graphics, comes with a plague of fires all the time. In Imperium Romanum that doesn’t happen. You have a lot of time to put up the fires and enjoy your city view & achievements. In this game you can relax but not so in Grand Ages of Rome. Tips: Plant trees near the wood cutter’s cabins, this way you’ll have a continuous flowing supply of wood. Extend your aqueducts to the maximum they can reach and build wells where fires occur more often. If you have enough money anything can be built in a flash. Don’t harass the barbarian tribes until you are really ready to face them. Build wooden walls around your town center to avoid attacks. I give 10/10 for this game and I am very pleased to have bought it!
– Real player with 50.0 hrs in game
A true successor to the game CivCity Rome, this simulator carries over many of the familiar features of the classic game with numerous improvements. Most significant is that a lot of the micromanagement has been removed, and game is not bogged down by de-evoling houses who don’t get every supply they need, even though for instance they live directly next to a butcher, tailor shop, and fruit store yet cant get meat, tunics or fruit. With that said, warehouse management is a bit too easy, since in the old game warehouses had to be watched carefully and supplies “donkeyed” between them to serve other parts of the city. This is now gone, and simply building a warehouse and marketplace next to a cluster of houses magically supplies all their needs.
– Real player with 24.6 hrs in game
CaesarIA
Not a bad concept for a city builder.
I’m enjoying it so far.
I will say tho.
The buildings need an area of effect highlight when positioning them.
Buildings can have a positive or negative effect on housing development.
Some have a blanket effect, others the effect is over multiple rings, or in the case like the Markets they need to be within range of functioning storeage buildings to be active themselves.
This isnt a bad thing but as the Market description implies, it both boosts and reduces housing while needing to be within range of buildings that reduce housing development. Neither effect is displayed so theres no ideal way of knowing if the storage is within range of the markets while being out of range of the housing.
– Real player with 11.5 hrs in game
I downloaded this because it’s getting harder and harder to find a good City Builder now a days. they are all becoming apps with pay to win, and they either focus all on economy, or all on combat and pvp. sometimes you just want to play alone, and not have to fork out money to make the play smooth. Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of empires, Ceasar, and a few others were great for this, it’s a dying breed of game it feels like for me.
anywho, I saw this ans was super excited. I played it immediatly. about 6 hours into my play time I ran into a few road blocks. some things weren’t working properly, and they littlerally haulted game progression. (example, being able to appease Ceaser’s requests was broken) among a few other things like crashes, and games not saving.
– Real player with 8.3 hrs in game